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Crain's General, In-House Summit offers a caseload of information

Organizations in trouble, strategies for lawyers to become CEO, and lessons learned by corporate attorneys are among the topics to be discussed at Crain's third General and In-House Counsel Summit April 16.

Crain's is hosting the event at the Westin Book Cadillac. It is sponsored by Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC and features national keynote speakers as well as local leaders in the legal community.

The event runs noon to 9 p.m. and will feature keynote speakers and small-group discussions.

Louis Freeh, chairman of Pepper Hamilton LLP, brings a long track record of investigations, criminal and corporate, as an attorney, prosecutor, judge and former FBI director. He will discuss best practices and policies related to corporate ethics gleaned over his career.

Another panel discussion will highlight the tricky path from GC to CEO.

The president of Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Automotive Group, Robert Kurnick Jr., will talk about his move from the company's GC to his current role. Also, Robert Cubbin, CEO of Southfield-based Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc., will discuss his rise from the position of GC.

Cubbin

Giving an overall perspective on that panel will be Veta Richardson, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Corporate Counsel, the industry group for general and in-house counsel.

The event will also feature six in-depth sessions, with specific topics discussed by general counsels and industry experts.

Panelists will be Bud Liebler, president of the Detroit-based Liebler Group and a former public relations executive at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler, and Todd Roeser, head of the legal department at Warren-based SRG Global Inc.

Panelists will be Bill Coughlin, president and CEO of Ford Global Technologies, heading up all of the company's intellectual property matters; Rick Brandon, the associate general counsel at the University of Michigan; who focuses on patents, technology transfer and legal research; and Graham Teall, an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit.

• Alternative fee agreements: Get perspectives from industry leaders on the structuring and pros and cons of alternative fee arrangements.

Panelists will be Stacy Fox, former general counsel of Sunoco Corp.; Ben Odom, in-house counsel at International Speedway Corp., which owns Michigan International Speedway; and Michael Derry, president of Management Development Corp.

• Detroit's patent office: What it means for IP in your business.

On the panel will be Cary Levitt, chief intellectual property counsel of Dow Corning Corp; Ileana Simplicean, general counsel of Nexteer Automotive Corp.; and Robin Evans, regional manager of the Elijah McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office.

• Mastering the business side of the office: How GCs and CFOs need to interact.

On the panel will be Dan Follis, general counsel of Compuware Corp., and Iwona Niec Villaire, associate general counsel at Cooper Standard Automotive.

• Business across the border: Structuring deals with Canadian companies.

On the panel will be David Weiner, consul and senior trade commissioner in the Consulate General of Canada-Detroit; Birgit Matthiesen, special adviser to the president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters; and Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, the founder of Toronto-based LexSage.

In addition, roundtable discussions will be held exclusively for general and in-house counsel for the sharing of best practices. Topics include labor issues, budgeting and managing, pro-bono policies and managing outside counsel.